Contrary to what Generalissimo Barack Lead-From-Behind Obama
bragged about during his 2012 Magical Fool-the-People Tour, we appear to be
losing to the Jihadists in Iraq,
in Syria, in Iran, in Afghanistan,
in Pakistan,
and at home. Maybe CAIR wasn't the best
advisor on Islamic terrorism he could find.

I see things from conservatives trashing this or that
potential GOP candidate as a RINO. I have a few GOP candidates I'm not crazy
about but all are preferable to President Hillary or President Big Chief Warren
or President Biden. Those "conservatives" who said they stayed home
because there was no difference between Obama and Romney are Obama's best
supporters. They knew what he was and helped him win anyway.

When I was an association executive, my policy was to help
staff members along. But not to carry them.

Any money my wife spends on herself in the two months before
Christmas, she says is, "Part of my Christmas." Any she spends on
kids and grandkids is, "Part of their Christmas." I thought about
giving everyone a nicely wrapped box on Christmas, with a list inside of all
the "Parts of their Christmas," but I was afraid it might get ugly.

I'll believe that Islam is a "Religion of Peace"
when it is as safe to wear a large cross on the street in Egypt, Iran,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria,
Lebanon, Libya or Iraq as it is in an American city.
(Dearborn
doesn't count.)

The biggest problem with the War of Terror is that our
"allies" are too often as bad as our enemies.

If black "leaders" really cared about blacks, the protests
would be over the tens of thousands of black babies aborted by Planned
Parenthood, fulfilling Margaret Sanger's dream of keeping more of what she
called "the unfit" from being born. On the 93% of black murder
victims who are black.

Put me down as one who thinks the Obama kids should be off
limits for political hits. Just as the left placed Bristol and Trig Palin off limits. Same rule
for everyone.

I hear they asked Bill Clinton if IS was a threat. He said
it depended on, "What the meaning of IS is." As to the question, Is
IS Islamic?" I say, "Islamic is as IS does."

When conservatives complain to me about RINOs, I remind them
that not one Republican, RINO or not, voted for Obamacare. If we had elected
five more RINOs to the US Senate in 2010, instead of losing with the inept Tea
Party conservatives nominated in some states, we would have stopped Obamacare,
saved our healthcare system, and at least delayed the on-rushing fiscal
collapse. And we might have blocked a lot of the federal judges Obama has
appointed since 2010, saving the country and the Constitution years of grief.
An electable RINO is preferable to an unelectable but more conservative
candidate who loses to a far left liberal. The key vote is the vote to
organize. Suppose you have 45 Conservative Republicans and 45 Liberal
Democrats. If six of the remaining ten are RINOs, Conservatives control the
senate, the committees and the flow of business. If six of the ten are
"moderate" Democrats, Liberals control the senate, the committees and
the flow of business. But some folks prefer to lose to the liberal agenda
rather than be less than pure.

As I've said before, a RINO is a fellow Republican who
doesn't agree with you on 100% of the issues or even on tactics. I was called a
RINO by a blog reader because I pointed out that a failed effort to impeach
Obama, which would be the case absent 14 Democrat votes in the Senate, would
help him and I didn't want to help Obama. Before the GOP launched their
impeachment effort, Bill Clinton was despised by a majority of voters. After it
failed, the media made him into a hero, a victim of evil Republicans. Now he's a
wealthy elder statesman and the most respected former president since Reagan.
Call me a RINO, but damn me if I want that for Obama.

Multitasking has its place, but you just can't floss and eat
breakfast at the same time.

From a brother Marine: "We live on a planet full of
cruelty. Americans continue to fail in their understanding of how blessed we
are. And within that failure, they continue to lose sight of the principles
that have provided us that blessing."

Tell me why it would be a good thing for the world (not for you) if you were to live
another ten years. I fear if God put everyone to that test, we'd have a large
population decrease.

Obama's position is simple. If Congress doesn't give him
everything he wants in the budget, he will veto it, thus shutting down the
government and the media will convince the public to blame the GOP for it. I'm
not sure this was how the Founders intended the checks and balances in the
constitution to work.

Only in Madison:
We were looking at the UW continuing education booklet. They have these history
courses: "Bicycling: Past, Present & Future" and "Daily Life
of the Cuban Revolution."

The Founding Fathers put in impeachment as a legislative
check on the president overriding the constitution and laws. What they didn't
envision was that the President's party would have enough committed senators to
block conviction regardless of the facts, that the President would welcome an
impeachment effort as a way to raise funds and increase his popularity, and that
the media would be able to convince the low-info voters that the president was
a victim of politics and racism. Or that a successful impeachment effort would
put someone who could be worse in his place and lead to riots, destruction and
murder from the members of his ethnic group. Obama is praying for an impeachment
effort to make him rich and respected as it did Bill Clinton. The country is in
a bad spot--all future presidents will know they can pretty much do what they
want if the media will give them a pass.

I went up to the EVP Coffee bar in the VA one day after PT
rehab. The 40-something, slim, well-coiffed and dressed gentleman in front of
me ordered a, "Caramel latte with skim and a shot of espresso." He
was waiting for his drink when I stepped up, slapped my mug on the counter and
ordered in my NCO voice, "Coffee, black!" He snapped around, took in
the Third Marine Division Vietnam patch on my leather jacket, snapped front and
said not a word.

#BlackLivesMatter! Well, except at Planned Parenthood. 40%
of the aborted babies come from the 13% of the population that is black. And
except for the thousands of blacks murdered every year by other blacks with
nary a note from the race baiters. #BlackLivesMatter only if they were killed
by white cops. But #WhiteLivesDon'tMatter when a white guy is killed by a black
cop, or a 5-year-old white girl is shot dead on her grandfather's lap in Milwaukee by black thugs,
with no word from the Jessie Jacksons and Al Sharptons. Or from Barack Obama.
We need a society where all lives matter. (But recently a university official
had to apologize for saying
#AllLivesMatter. Sad.)

Once ISIS, al Qaeda and other jihadists have succeeded in
shredding civilization, they may find that releasing the uncivilized brute in
us, bent on the survival of family and tribe at any cost, but armed with
civilized technology, is a fearsome thing.

So, is the situation in Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Libya,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Ukraine better or worse since Obama
took office in 2009?

Government is a necessary evil, but the basis of government
is coercion. The bigger and more powerful the government....

It will be a shame if the drop in oil prices produces less
US home grown energy. Being an energy exporter is good for our economy, and
cheaper energy costs are especially good for poor and working class people, if
not investors. Plus it produces less wealth for Muslim countries to fund terror
and terror-teaching schools around the world. Looking at you Saudi allies...

The list of people in this world whom I would kill if I
could is distressingly long, and suggests that I won't need to take harp
lessons for the next life.

Increasingly the left is trying to use the courts and
federal regulatory agencies to implement its agenda. Conservatives must fight
back the same way or see our freedoms destroyed. (Such as hunting.)

I kind of think if folks here want to go join the Islamic
State, we should let them. Fair chance we can kill them there, and of course,
they should not be let back in the country. They are likely to engage in
Allah-inspired workplace violence if they stay here.

If you want to be liked, admired and respected, I can tell
you the secret. Complain less than other people. Be more cheerful than other
people. And always do more than your share of what needs to be done. Easy, huh?

The good Muslim says, "I will exterminate the infidels,
the Jews, the Christians, the Buddhists, the Ahmadis, the Alawites/Shia/Sunni,
the Druze, and all other apostates. All in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate."

From a fellow vet at the VA: "There's a big difference
between hearing and listening." True.

Some people form opinions. But most people's political
opinions--left or right--are received opinion. Some leader or pundit states an
opinion and it is accepted uncritically and repeated endlessly by the loyal
drones.

Many churches are built for the Glory of God. But I suspect
many more are built for the glory of men.

You may, on principle, refuse to vote for the lesser of two
evils. But you should get a thank you note from the great of two evils, whom you
helped elect, and who will now govern you.

Universities talk about "White Privilege," with,
as Dr. Thomas Sowell says, "privilege" replacing "achievement."
But there is also "Black Privilege" where folks who like Rep. Charlie
Rangel engage in tax evasion, or like Barack Obama take the law into their own
hands are given a pass by the media, academia and progressives because of their
race.

Get the collection!My
“Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership
by Robert A. Hall

The Old Jarhead’s
Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and
Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including
the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall
Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of
interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a
service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their
heads explode. All
royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.